Well, I did suggest "Meet Cute" with strange and unusual stories of friendships aborning. Maybe not enough branch to support the weight of "book" though.

Amy, you are such a keen observer of human nature, and you write about it in such an entertaining and provocative way, I will buy any book you write. But the book I really hope you will one day write would be a series of character sketches of the people you know where you live and meet on your travels.

Ordinary folk like us are doing silly and wonderful things all the time. You have the eye, the wit and the pen to capture those moments on paper.

My authorized biography rights haven't been acquried yet...

Perhaps a graphic novel: Revengerella!

{Emphasis on the graphic}

And the JREF might be able to use your people skills; they publish now and then. Many of the misconceptions they have to fight are the result of undisciplined thinking, perhaps handed down through generations. I see a bit of overlap between your work and theirs.

There's still meat on the blog bone, for songs and stories about the people you've met. Done right, people love to read about other people. There are a lot of stories about Britney in the bookstore.

Dr. Laura's put out a buncha stuff, and her subjects are similar. Does that make it easier or harder to write?

I wish Grace, of Grace Undressed, would write a book. Wow - there's a whole region of angst that most have never seen by daylight. But more people relate to the people in your columns, because of your selection process of course.

Stupid, self-sabotaging things people do in search of love.

Or, alternately, a book on how to handle the stupid, self-sabotaging friends in your life who won't stop complaining about their love lives. How to handle it delicately.

how the rise of empowerment within society [about anything] leads to waning of rules, and perhaps how the two ideas overshoot each other... or perhaps how freedom decoupled from responsibility tends to create issues.

Broad topic or narrowed down.

heh, or how 'bout the paradox that anti-evolutionals go about the businees of evolution [ie. makin' babies] with far more zest than the cultured scientific types who engage in societal death spirals. Perhaps that they need each other more than they know, but will never admit to it.

On the other hand, maybe a study of the theories of how an individual's ideas and decisions effect the whole, and how they can percholate up.

How about "Ways To Kill the Rude, Immature, and Stupid Amoung Us & Not Go To Jail

I always like the debunking of old ideas with good science. I remember when you blogged that people might not really need to drink 8 glasses of water a day. You do this type of thing fairly often and I think it could be expanded into an interesting book.

NicoleK's idea, "Stupid, self-sabotaging things people do in search of love," is punchy, kicky, and has wide appeal, and it's EXACTLY your area of expertise. I'd go for that one. Bestseller territory, that.

Thanks -- I'm reading these...and I'd love to have somebody do a graphic novel of Revengerella. Any suggestions of an artist?

I particularly like a cartoonist named Mr. Fish, Duwayne Booth, just in general. He's also quite smart. I've asked my editor to buy a cartoon from him for the book, but it's taking forever for them to figure out the cover, so that'll come soon.

P.S. Gregg took beautiful shots of me for the cover, and nearly lost a leg doing it when my neighbors' porch stairs collapsed. He did another whole day of shooting afterward, but refused to enter their backyard ever again! (He will -- they're practically family to me and have us over for dinner and holidays and just because.) He did have to get a $45 tetanus shot the next day.

How about "Ways To Kill the Rude, Immature, and Stupid Amoung Us & Not Go To Jail"

Pretty much the current book, but without the actual death angle. I favor embarrassing people to death as a way of producing manners. Oh yeah, and in an amusing way. The few who've read my book tell me it's entertaining. Hope a lot of people think so.

I wish you'd write a manifesto for socially liberal fiscally conservative types like yourself. I love your common-sense approach to politics and to life in general - sorta like, do what you want, but accept the consequences and pay your own way.

I don't know if that would actually be book material. But I feel like your writing here gives voice to a political movement I hope & dream is just waiting to happen, one that rejects religious-right social conservatism and embraces the values of self-reliance, financial common sense, and personal liberty.

Title: "The Pinnacle of Manufacturing: How the Gibson L4-C Epitomized the Excellence of the American Century", by Amy Alkon. (384 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.)

Also, offtopic, can we all agree that Sarkozy's wife would be even prettier if she hadn't had a facelift? Whenever you see a face like that, the heart's first response is a pulse of pity, as if the poor dear had been disfigured in an accident.

I like NicoleK's ideas too. If you generalized a little and geared the book towards teens (to tie in your school talks) you could title it _How To Not Fuck Up_. That might KO your chances of a shrine at Barnes & Noble though.

Have you thought of doing a radio show?
I think you would be great. News, common sense politics and love life. You would be a great addition to the AM or FM dial. And, if successful, you can make a ton of money. Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

I was going to ask you to write about being child-free but found there are quite a few books already

http://www.happilychildfree.com/books.htm

How to fight back for your consumer rights that you have been bitcin about the last year or two ie telemarketers, rip off stores, banks, etc

I'm thinking of a combo. of what Bertha Minerva and Pseudonym already suggested--a manifesto on social liberalism/fiscal conservatism/personal responsibility... that also illustrates how to not fuck up your life.

I'd buy it!

How about "An American Woman In Paris"?

Your photos of French cityscapes are marvelous, as a lot of folks here have pointed out. And your photos of French people are even better. This is one of my favorite blog posts anywhere:

http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2007/09/17/a_funny_thing_h_1.html

Start with an essay on your appreciation for the French way of life, then fill the rest of the book up with your best pictures, with some snappy writing to go along with them.

"Stupid, self-sabotaging things people do in search of love. "

For that book I can give you two chapters, "How I Did It" and "How I Did It Again".

Hmm. I note with some sadness that the struggle to get published is not the end of trouble for an author. Here's Patrick Smith:

"And writing it was the easy part. The stressful part was everything that happened afterward. I remember, for example, arguing with the higher-ups at Barnes & Noble, who insisted on squirreling "Ask the Pilot" away in the dusty corners of the transportation section instead of on the travel shelves. Ditto for Borders. Or pleading in vain with managers in airport bookstores, who in their infinite wisdom refused to order copies of what was -- at least in my mind, call me crazy -- the quintessential airport product. If positioned where fliers might actually see it, I reasoned, it would sell by the bushel. But if you walk into Barnes & Noble today, there you'll find the book, five years old and embarrassingly out-of-date, sandwiched between FAA test manuals and tomes about Victorian steam engines, where the only people who see it -- adolescent hobbyists and pilots -- are those least likely to buy it."

I guess the bookstore people can't know what every book's about.

I like NicoleK's ideas, too. But I think that you'd have to really do something unusual to get it to stand out, since that's a pretty popular topic.

Personally, I'd rather see an in-depth examination of newspapers/written journalism from someone who's still believes in them. I like reading the hard-hitting stories in the news, but I get more and more disenchanted every time I pick the newspaper up or log onto their website. That seems like a fun topic to research, with some offshoots into things like alt-weeklies, newspaper websites vs. TV news websites (both forms of written journalism), and websites like CNN and MSNBC. Amy's perspective would make it way more interesting than the latest spiel from a Dan Rather wannabe. Just an idea.

Another idea might be a book of "Atypical Advice". Amy goes against the grain in a lot of her advice. And while there are a lot of topics she deals with, I always like her advice best on the non-relationship stuff. Like dealing with kids, family members, and etc, because those are the bits where she usually gives some practical, sensible advice that is so deliciously blunt and unforgiving that it stands apart. Not writing it in column format, as usual, but going in a chapter style, where she can give examples and use her reserach to the fullest.

Amy said:
For example, a friend who's an architect said that if she knew how little architects make, she never would've spent so much on her education.

Oh man! I bought into the whole college hype as well. You know, the bit where you can major in whatever you want, but so long as you've gone to college, the Magical Job Fairies will come down from the sky, and give you awesome, high-paying, high-satisfaction employment.

Yeah... one of my biggere regrets is majoring in English instead of something useful like Accounting. I could've really used someone to tell me that there are no Magical Job Fairies, and English is not the most useful degree on the market.

And that college advisors are great big liars.

I'd like the see an exploration of the victim culture we've developed for ourselves. I think you could handle that well.

Hmmm...are there any established ideas in the world of psychology (evolutionary or otherwise) that make being a victim appealing? What do people get out of it? How did we get where we are today? Is there any way out of it?

When I was living in Toronto, I spent countless hours in public libraries, both in the main branch downtown & in local branches all over the city. I never failed to notice that there were plenty of black kids hanging around on the street outside the library, but only a handful of black kids reading & studying inside the library. Yes I know, that's anecdotal evidence, but when you keep seeing the same thing over & over again, it can't help but make an impression. Have you noticed this in LA, or is it different down there?

The rise of the victim culture is a great topic, but if you really want to address it, you'll have to grab the bull by the horns & tackle the most deeply entrenched & most murderous victim culture, namely the niggah culture of the black underclass. For instance:

Black slaves risked torture & death, risked anything, to learn how to read & write, and to teach their fellow slaves. Now, black kids who read & study hard are scorned by their peers for acting white. How did this happen? Have you seen it in action in your volunteer work with inner city kids? Can anything be done about it?

After the Watts riots, the city, state, & fed governments poured god knows how many billions of dollars into LA's black neighborhoods & schools. Where did all that money go? What do they have to show for it? How can anyone believe that if only Lovelle Mixon had received MORE welfare, he would have turned out to be a fine young man?

When the Governator signed off on Tookie William's execution a while back, the streets were filled with outraged black protesters. WTF? The Crips & Bloods have slaughtered more blacks in a few decades than the KKK lynched since the Civil War. How did even that soulless monster get glorified as a victim?

Etc etc etc

Sorry for rambling here. If you want a concise suggestion, how about writing about the rise of the victim culture the way you've seen it unfold before your eyes, and in the story of your city, Los Angeles? If you want to tackle this seriously, you can't help but raise lots of hackles & get tons of hate mail. Maybe that's part of the fun!

How about
Suicide for Dummies
or
You Really Needed a Warning Label For That?

Seriously though, how about

Rational and Irrational Thought: How Biology and Evolution Infulence Our Emotions & Reactions

Further to what Nicole said, let me share a story with you that just happened minutes ago. Feel free to use it as example #877 in some future book, which you might think about calling "When It Comes To Love We're Each Our Own Worst Enemy".

I just heard from a longtime friend of mine that he's getting back together with a woman who dumped him cold last year. In point of fact, EVERYONE around him thought the relationship made no sense from the get go. She's somewhat intellectual, keeps up with the news, etc. He's more of a sports, sports, sports guy. So when she suddenly broke things off with him, no one was surprised.

Now they're getting back together. Why? Because they're both lonely? Because they're both in need of some horizontal refreshment? The fact is he takes every relationship very seriously and assumes he's mating for life. So he's only going to get hurt with her.

Part of what I'd love for you to write about is when you think a close friend should speak their mind about such things and when they should clam up.